The Freeze

Han Sen's Jadeskin provided great cold resistance, but even he felt extremely chilly now.

Dragon Lady and the sheep were quivering and shivering due to the cold, prompting the former to light herself on fire. That helped her out a bit, but the gnaw of the ice was so strong and bitter, it couldn't help shake the freeze.

The sheep's fluffy wool was wholly caked in ice and snow, by comparison. Han Sen acknowledged it was an unfortunate consequence of the cold getting to it, but regardless, it was a strange look for it to bear.

The cold was hurting it badly, though. Cheap Sheep could only twitch every few moments, indicating that it was becoming increasingly likely that the sheep would freeze to death.

Han Sen continued to hold Bao'er close, but with his free hand, he cast a fire. She didn't seem to be affected by the cold, fortunately. With great curiosity, she just peered outside the bowl as if she was watching something only she could see.

The temperature was continuing to drop, though. Bao'er's safety aside, Han Sen was concerned not even he would be able to withstand the ice and frost much longer. There was a grave concern that all three of them would perish due to the sudden shift in weather.

"Who is fighting out there? The powers they've unleashed are wickedly fierce," Han Sen asked, due to his Dongxuan Sutra being unable to detect and register what was going on outside.

The sky continued to pump, cough, and exude as much snow and bone-chilling winds as it could.

"I am not sure. It could either be a royal or king-class spirit battle," Dragon Lady said, offering her own explanation.

Even though she was on fire, her lips were turning purple and her teeth were chattering between a few sputtered words. She held her arms in a hopeless attempt to restrict her shivering.

Suddenly, an extremely sharp noise sounded. It was horrendously high-pitched, like the drill of a dentist had pierced their eardrums and ventured onwards to excavate their brains. The sound made them all fall to their knees.

"D*mn it!" Han Sen's face turned grim. It was excruciatingly painful, even though his brain had been fortified by Crystallizers and was far more resilient and stronger than the average human brain.

And it wasn't one short, sole shriek. It continued, fading in and out, bringing the party more pain. It was certainly the frightening wail of a creature of some sort.

It came from a distance away, that much they could tell, but it was worrying how damaging it was, regardless of that.

Dragon Lady cupped her ears and fell to the ground. Bao'er did the same with her ears, but it didn't seem as if she was too undisturbed. The way she behaved did not exhibit any pain, and it seemed like that hurting sound was more of an annoyance. And in comparison to the behavior of the other three, the sheep was rolling around on the ground in freezing agony.

If the sound came any closer, they believed, their heads would explode like watermelons greeting the strike of a hammer. But with the scream continuing like so, and the temperature still descending, the situation was getting worse by the second.

"How much longer will the fight go on? If this keeps up, we'll be dead in less than two hours!" Han Sen thought to himself.

Half of the sheep's body was now pure ice, and the only thing keeping it in the land of the living was its weak, faintly pumping heart. Dragon Lady was faring better than Cheap Sheep was, but that wasn't saying much.

Getting another look at Bao'er, even she now seemed to be suffering. This was something Han Sen had never seen before, and it made his heart ache.

With the Dongxuan Sutra open, Han Sen fired up all ten gene locks and attempted to see if he could filter the cold and noise.

The seventh sense was able to filter some of the piercing screaming.

And so, Han Sen battled the noise, hoping to reduce the damage it was dealing to his allies. If the battle wrapped up soon, or they were able to fly far away from where they were, they'd be safe.

But unfortunately for them, it turned out that the screech was drawing nearer.

Han Sen was having trouble trying to fight this noise, so he minimized and concentrated his Dongxuan Sutra to circle the same radius as the bowl.

The scream was disturbing their energy flow, too. It made them unable to deal with the cold as efficiently as they might want to. Han Sen used Dongxuan Aura the best he could. The Dragon Lady looked a smidgen better, but Cheap Sheep was unconscious.

"That guy really is a cursed charm. I bet the whole reason we're in this mess is because he insists on calling me boss. That's the reason!" Han Sen was disheartened by the ordeal they had found themselves in.

As the sound continued to ascend, they gripped their heads in vain resistance to the wail that felt as if a bevy of knives were trying to stab each of their brains. Bao'er's face had been drained of color, and Dragon Lady finally collapsed to the ground entirely.

"When I get stronger, I'm going to find whoever has done this and serve them up a cold platter of revenge!" Han Sen cast Dongxuan Aura with all his might now, doing the best he could to save his friends.

Suddenly, Han Sen's cells felt as if they had flared to life. A mystical substance was generated, just like before, and went to his Sea of Soul.

"Is Dongxuan Sutra going to generate a geno core?" Han Sen wondered to himself.

The substance began to build up inside the Sea of Soul, and the black crystal reacted just as it had with the Jadeskin geno core. It released its inky liquid, which combined with the substance.

The screaming was like an explosion of shrapnel in his ears, but he couldn't pay it much heed. Survival was the name of the game right now, and he had to do all he could to ensure he'd make it through this horrific ordeal.

Dragon Lady's skin was beginning to flake with ice, as Bao'er began to shiver and shake in Han Sen's arms.

The temperature dropped further and further, as the screech drew closer and closer.

"D*mn it! Come on. This can't be happening. I can't die! I won't die!" Han Sen looked around for an escape route. If he couldn't save the others, he'd have to save himself. But unfortunately, he was well and truly trapped, and there was no way out.

Suddenly, the Sea of Soul vibrated. And then, something appeared in front of him.